Narrow street needs salvation from parking issues after sale of hall

The former Salvation Army hall on Albert Street, Tring, February 2014

A terraced Victorian street in the Tring Triangle could face more parking headaches if the recently sold former Salvation Army hall is redeveloped.

Some of those living on Albert Street have expressed their concern at the future of the former church building after an estate agents’ ‘sold’ board was erected outside.

The last members of the Salvation Army moved out in July 2011 and sold the hall, but the building has stood empty ever since.

Resident Emma Cave said: “Parking round here is a nightmare. If the hall is turned into one house, that would be OK but if it’s two flats, there’s the potential of four more cars. Where are they going to go?

“That said, when you buy a house in a terraced street, you have to expect not to park right outside your house. But I have to park round the corner a lot.”

Jane Parker-Howard is also worried about the potential redevelopment of the hall into another house or flats – and the parking rage that it could cause.

Jane – an English and maths tutor who works from home – said: “If they turn it into residential, they’ll have to provide adequate parking. I actually own the driveway next to it, as I have to use it to access my garage which is at the bottom of my garden.

“The times I come home and I can’t get in because someone is parked across it – something needs to happen.”

Sharon King was the last SA officer to be based in Tring, and she said she was sad to leave such a tight knit community after eight years.

Sharon, who now lives in Stanford-le-Hope in Essex, is still heavily involved with the Christian charity and says it was ultimately the size of the congregation which led to the group’s closure.

She said: “The congregation got older – we were down to about 12 – and it was getting more and more difficult for them to make it to the hall.

“It was a number of things really, but the parking didn’t help. We thought it was time to close.”

An official spokesperson for the Salvation Army said: “We were grateful for the opportunity to serve the community from this hall for more than 100 years.

“However, after a review the congregation concluded that they could no longer continue, and the property was duly sold.

“The receipt of that money is being used for the work of the Salvation Army in the central south area.”

Emma Cave said: “We miss the Salvation Army – it was lovely to hear the singing at the services on a Sunday, and at Christmas there’d be the brass band underneath the street lamps.